SOUTHPORT ladies put defeat to Ormskirk in the first league game behind them and put on a much more controlled performance to beat local rivals St Mary’s at Waterloo Road.

The hosts started the game with purpose and some strong tackles from the kick-off by the Southport forwards set the tone.

The Southport forwards were winning the ball at the breakdowns and scrum-half Faye Dagnall controlled the tempo of play right from the start.

Through some good solid play between the forwards and backs this led to Southport’s first-ever try in league rugby within the first 10 minutes of the game.

With the forwards securing good possession and the backs showing quick hands to get the ball out to Rachel Porter on the wing, she demonstrated excellent footwork and speed cutting through the St Mary’s defence and taking the ball over the try line.

Southport’s first-half dominance continued, this time with the forwards getting in on the act.

From some more dominating runs carving holes in the St Mary’s defence, Southport skipper no.8 Lauren McCluskey crashing through the tackles to score the first of her three tries under the posts.

Emma Donnelly then stepped up to take the conversion and showed the home support what her coaches and teammates already knew – she is one of the best goal-kickers in the league and she duly obliged by slotting the extras.

Lauren McCluskey, who last week was selected to represent Lancashire at county level, showed the excited crowd just why that decision had been made with her next try showing off her power in the tackle as from the base of the scrum on the opposition 22 she picked up the ball and ignoring the overlap outside her, powered through two defenders to place the ball over the line.

Again Donnelly stepped up and converted the try with ease.

A period of Southport complacency and a spell of good play from St Mary’s led them to scoring two tries themselves in the first-half.

The second-half started the same way as the first.

Southport forwards won the ball and took it over the gain line with purpose. Some quick thinking from McCluskey in a lose ruck saw her pick the ball out and run 20 yards to get her third try under the posts. Again, Donnelly tacked on the extras.

As lack of match fitness began to show for both sides this led to some tired tackling and one of the Southport centres was the unfortunate recipient of a yellow card as the referee had spoken to both sides and warned that the next bad tackle would lead to the player spending 10 minutes in the bin.

St Mary’s used their numerical advantage to score one more try of their own.

Overall, this was a resounding and historical win for Southport ladies and they look forward to their next match at home versus Preston Grasshoppers on October 21.

ANYONE interested in playing women’s rugby contact team manager Mike Dale on 07909-996057.